Alaska GOP Senate primary 2014: Dan Sullivan wins

Dan Sullivan won the Alaska GOP Senate primary on Tuesday and will face Democratic Sen. Mark Begich this fall in a crucial race for control of the Senate.

His nomination in the last high-stakes Senate primary of the cycle is a victory for establishment backers such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads, who saw Sullivan as the strongest general election candidate among the Republican field.

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Sullivan, the state’s former attorney general and director of natural resources, won 40 percent of the vote with 80 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. Joe Miller, the upset winner of the 2010 primary, won 32 percent, and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell won 25 percent.

Sullivan led his primary opponents in fundraising and establishment support and also counted the conservative Club for Growth among his backers. He faced attacks on his ties to the state and his record in state government, not only from his primary opponents, but from Begich allies who have already spent heavily against him.

Alaska is a red-leaning state that could become one of the six Republicans need to net in order to win control of the Senate. John McCain defeated Barack Obama there by almost 22 percentage points in 2008. Begich, a former mayor of Anchorage, that year unseated GOP Sen. Ted Stevens, who had just been convicted in an ethics case that was later thrown out. Obama lost by a narrower but still large margin, 14 points, to Mitt Romney in 2012.

Before the primary, Miller said he would support whomever the GOP nominated, apparently ruling out a third-party or write-in bid in the general election that might have threatened Republicans’ chances to take over the seat.

As results came in, Treadwell called Sullivan to congratulate him on becoming “a standard-bearer for our party that can beat Begich in the fall,” according to Alaska Dispatch News.

Without a serious primary challenge of his own, Begich has run a steady campaign so far, raising $8.4 million and spending $6.4 million through the end of July. Another asset for Begich is his well-known family name. His father represented Alaska in the House before being killed in a 1972 plane crash.

“Alaska’s bitter and divisive Republican primary exposed that Dan Sullivan does not look out for what’s in the best interests of Alaskans,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee deputy executive director Matt Canter in a statement from Washington early Wednesday. “After carrying water for Sarah Palin and trying to restrict access to public lands for hunters and fishers, Sullivan is now hoping to do the Koch brothers’ bidding in the U.S. Senate.”

Begich attacked Sullivan and Treadwell over women’s health issues — a recurring theme in races across the country this year, driven in part by the ongoing Obamacare debate — and joined the other Republicans in attacking Sullivan over his Alaska roots. (Sullivan is originally from Ohio and worked for the George W. Bush administration.)

Sullivan used an ad featuring his native Alaskan wife to respond to the attacks; FP1 Strategies has produced his commercials, while Mark Putnam has handled Begich’s advertising. He also highlighted his overseas military service: One ad featured the father of of a soldier killed in Iraq talking about shared values.

“Dan Sullivan has dedicated his life to service and sacrifice to ensure future generations are protected,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) in a statement. “As Attorney General and Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Dan has demonstrated that he will always put Alaska first and focus on the issues most important to the state. In his role as Attorney General Dan Sullivan led the fight to crack down on domestic violence and sexual assault proving that he will always fight to do what is right for women and all Alaskans.”

Sullivan overwhelmed Treadwell and Miller in the money race, taking in $4 million through July 30 and spending $3 million. Treadwell raised $1.2 million and spent about $1 million. Miller raised just $328,000 and spent $566,000.

The leader in disclosed outside spending is Put Alaska First, a super PAC funded almost entirely by the national, pro-Democratic Senate Majority PAC. The group spent $3.9 million against Sullivan, which sparked Republican accusations that Democrats were trying to meddle in the primary. The group dedicated more modest sums to attacking Treadwell and Miller and supporting Begich.

American Crossroads is the second-biggest outside spender in the race to date, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Almost three-quarters of the group’s $1.2 million in spending went to attacking Begich, while the rest went to pro-Sullivan efforts.